Covering the body with clay

The posts for this blog will get fewer now that we are knee-deep in the clay. Our job is to take that foam armature and make it look like a man holding a blueprint in his lap. Slowly we cover the armature with clay. It does not look like much now, but it will later. That is a significant hint to give students. Many don't work on their work until it is complete. They get upset that it does not look like they want and walk away. It is essential to keep up with art no matter what. If you have to walk away for a moment, that is fine but don't abandon it. Push yourself to keep going and get another point of view if you need to. You can always tell the artwork is created with this hint in mind.  

I'll be like an acrobat working on different parts, crawling under and on top. At one point, I'll even pull the sculpture off the bench to place him on something so we can work on his back. He is heavy with all that clay. It comes along, and I can't wait for you to see the sculpture. We were trying to have the family come before Christmas to approve it, but that is wishful thinking. Thanksgiving and Christmas get in the way with vendors and interns and working. We plan to schedule this in January. 

I still need to work on the blueprint—more posts in the new year. 

Happy Christmas and happy holiday to all. 

Off With His Head!

When I begin to work on the head, I always cut it off with the body. So, even though "off with their head!" is something from Alice in Wonderland, it is a term I always use in my studio. Having a head that I can mount on a pipe makes it easier to sculpt. Knowing I have to de-age the subject- See the previous post; I want everything I can have to make it easy for me to move around the subject. Having his head off does just this.  

I only need to get a general look of him. I'll put the head back on and make sure that the body goes with the size head I sculpted. Believe me, sculpting a head to perfection and finding it does not fit a body is a nightmare. I often like to cover up one eye while I work on the other. I will also turn him upside down. This is a trick to fool my brain into seeing things I have not seen. This cloth over one eye makes him look like a pirate. Speaking of pirates, there is a time when I'm working on a commission of a person when I hear the line from the movie "Hook" in my head. Smooshing the face around, the young boy cries, "There you are, Peter Pan. "I say that when I'm sculpting. It is what I call the "aha" moment of sculpting.  

Glasses helped. These are not his glasses but ones I purchased that look like his glasses. I'm still waiting to see if the client wants glasses on the sculpture. They can be a challenge in bronze, but we can do it. Meanwhile, the glasses give me a reference to how things relate to other things. Remember, sculpting is all about comparing.—comparing one thing to another. 

This head will come off a couple of more times even after it is put on the sculpture.